Corning Municipal Code Art. I General Provisions

A. Federal Requirements. To comply with the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (PL 92-500) and the Clean Water Act of 1977 (PL 95-217), which mandated secondary wastewater treatment throughout the United States by certain dates, new wastewater treatment facility conveyance pipelines and outfall has been constructed to serve the needs of city residents and other users of the city's wastewater collection, treatment and disposal facilities. This wastewater treatment facility is funded in part by clean water grant funds. CFR 35.935-16 requires the grantee to have an approved Sewer Use Chapter.

B. Pretreatment Regulations. To comply with general pretreatment regulations (Code of Federal Regulations 40 Part 403). The objectives of the pretreatment regulations in this chapter are;

1. To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the publicly owned treatment works that will interfere with its operation;

2. To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the publicly owned treatment works that will pass through the publicly owned treatment works inadequately treated, into receiving waters, or otherwise be incompatible with the publicly owned treatment works;

3. To protect both publicly owned treatment works personnel who may be affected by wastewater and sludge in the course of their employment and the general public;

4. To promote reuse and recycling of industrial wastewater and sludge from the publicly owned treatment works;

5. To provide for fees for the equitable distribution of the cost of operation, maintenance and improvement of the publicly owned treatment works; and

6. To enable the city of Corning to comply with its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit conditions, sludge use and disposal requirements, and any other federal or state laws to which the publicly owned treatment works is subject.

The pretreatment regulation contained in this chapter shall apply to all users of the publicly owned treatment works. These regulations authorize the issuance of wastewater discharge permits; provide for monitoring, compliance and enforcement activities; establish administrative review procedures; require user reporting; and provide for the setting of fees for the equitable distribution of costs resulting from the program established in this chapter.

C. Resolution and Contract. Pursuant to this section, it is necessary for the city to adopt this chapter, establishing the revised sewer use rules and regulations approved by the State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Quality.

(Ord. 541 (part), 1993).

A. This chapter is enacted pursuant to Health and Safety Code Chapter 3 (commencing at Section 4700 ff.) and Government Code Section 38900. In the case of any conflict between the provisions of this chapter and those of the state codes noted in this section, the latter shall prevail.

B. All provisions of this chapter are applicable to all users of the sewerage system, including all users whose connection to the sewerage system is located outside the corporate boundaries of the city of Corning and to all premises or property requiring sewer connections to the city sewerage system.

(Ord. 541 (part), 1993).

A. General Terminology. Words, phrases or terms not specifically defined in this section, and having a technical or specialized meaning shall be defined as set forth in the latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, published by the American Public Health Association, the American Water Works Association and the Water Pollution Control Federation. Reference to waste constituents and characteristics shall have the meanings ascribed thereto in the aforesaid publication, and measurements thereof shall be as set forth in said publication, or as established by federal or state regulatory agencies. Units of expression and terminology not defined in the above reference shall be as defined in the latest editions of the following publications of the Water Pollution Control Federation: (1) Manual of Practice Number 6, Units of Expression for Wastewater Treatment, and (2) Glossary Water and Wastewater Control Engineering.

B. Specific Definitions. Unless the context indicates otherwise, the following words and terms shall have the meanings set forth in this section.

"Act" or "the Act" means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, §33 USC 1251 et seq.

Authorized Representative of the User. An "authorized representative of the user" means,

1. If the user is a corporation:

a. The president, secretary, treasurer or a vice-president of the corporation in charge of a principal business function, or any other person who performs similar policy or decision-making functions for the corporation; or

b. The manager of one or more manufacturing, production or operation facilities employing more than two hundred fifty persons or having gross annual sales or expenditures exceeding twenty-five million dollars (in second quarter 1980 dollars), if authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.

2. If the user is a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or proprietor, respectively.

3. If the user is a federal, state or local governmental facility: a director or highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the activities of the government facility, or their designer.

4. The individuals described in subsections 1 through 3 of this section may designate another authorized representative if the authorization is in writing, the authorization specifies the individual or position responsible for the overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company, and the written authorization is submitted to the city of Corning.

"Beneficial uses" means uses of the waters of the city or state which may, or do, requirement protection against quality degradation thereof. Such uses include, but are not necessarily limited to, domestic, municipal, agricultural, industrial, power generation, recreation, aesthetic enjoyment, navigation purposes; protection and enhancement of fish, wildlife or other aquatic resources or reserves; and such other uses, both tangible or intangible, as are or may be specified by federal or state law as beneficial uses.

"Biochemical Oxygen Demand" or "BOD" means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures for five days at twenty degrees centigrade, usually expressed as a concentration (e.g., mg/l).

"Building sewer" means the privately owned and maintained extension from the building waste plumbing to the sewerage system, beginning two feet outside the foundation wall of the building serviced.

"Building waste plumbing" means the piping inside the building which receives the wastewater from fixtures and conveys it to the building sewer.

"Capital improvement fee" refers to those charges levied on new connections to the public sewers in order to compensate the tax payers and users of the sewerage system for costs associated with construction and maintenance of the basic sewerage system, associated capacity for the new building sewer and connection to the public sewer.

"Categorical pretreatment standard" or "categorical standard" means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by EPA in accordance with Sections 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 USC Section 1317), which apply to a specific category of users and which appear in 40 CFR Chapter 1, Subchapter N, Parts 405-471.

"Charge" means a rental or other user fee established pursuant to city ordinance for services and facilities furnished by the city to any user or premises in connection with the operation of the sewerage system.

"City" means the city of Corning, California.

"Class I discharger" means a significant industrial user.

"Class II discharger" means a user that discharges or has the potential to discharge (determined by the director) high concentrations of "compatible pollutants" and/or a user that has significant or potential impact on the city of Corning wastewater treatment facility and its water quality requirements.

"Commercial user" means any nonresidential user that the director determines introduces into the sewerage system primarily segregated domestic wastes or wastes from sanitary conveniences.

"Compatible pollutant" refers to biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), suspended solids (55), PH and fecal coliform bacteria, plus additional pollutants identified in the city's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, where:

1. The city's wastewater treatment facility has been designed to remove or reduce such pollutants; or

2. Such pollutants do not interfere with the wastewater treatment facility operations in passing through the treatment process and do not cause any violation of the water quality requirements.

Connection Charge. See capital improvement fee.

"Contamination" refers to the creation of a hazard to the public health of the city, county or state by the disposal of wastewater.

"Diluting waters" means water added to waste to make the waste compatible with the requirement standards of the city.

"Director" means the director of public works of the city of Corning or his/her authorized representative.

"Domestic wastes" consists of wastes discharging from the sanitary conveniences principally of dwellings (including apartment houses and motels), restaurants, office buildings, institutions and the like.

"Effluent" means wastewater or other liquid partially or completely treated, or in its natural state, flowing out of a treatment plant or industrial treatment plant, or part thereof.

"Engineer" means the city engineer.

"Environmental Protection Agency" or "EPA" means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or, where appropriate, the Regional Water Division Director or other duly authorized official of said agency.

"Existing source" means any source of discharge, the construction or operation of which commenced prior to the publication by EPA or proposed categorical pretreatment standards, which will be applicable to such source if the standard is thereafter promulgated in accordance with Section 307 of the Act.

"Federal" means the whole or any part of the United States Government, such as the EPA.

"Federal Act" means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, PL 92-500 and all amendments thereto, as well as any regulations, guidelines, limitations and standards promulgated by the EPA pursuant to the Act.

"Grab sample" means a sample which is taken from a waste stream without regard to the flow in the waste stream and over a period of time not to exceed fifteen minutes.

"Health officer" means the Tehama County health services director, his assistants or his authorized deputies acting as health officer of the city.

"Holding tank waste" means any waste from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, septic tanks and tank trucks.

"Incompatible pollutant" means any pollutant which is not a compatible pollutant, or which interferes with, is not removed by, or is otherwise incompatible with the wastewater treatment process and thereby causes violation(s) of the water quality requirements.

"Indirect discharge" or "discharge" means the introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source regulated under Section 307(b), (c) or (d) of the Act.

"Industrial sewer" means the sewer constructed by the city specifically for collection and conveyance of wastes that are to be conveyed to the industrial treatment facilities located at the city wastewater treatment facility site.

"Industrial treatment facility" means any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating industrial wastes.

"Industrial User." The term "industrial user" or "user" means a source of indirect discharge.

"Industrial waste" means the waterborne waste and wastewater from and production, manufacturing or processing operation of whatever nature, including institutional and commercial operations where water is used for the removal of significant quantities of waste other than those resulting from human habitation of a premises. Contents of chemical toilets, septic tanks, waste holding tanks and waste sumps shall also be classed as industrial waste.

"Influent" means wastewater or other liquid flowing into a treatment plant or industrial treatment plant, or any part thereof.

"Instantaneous maximum allowable discharge limit" means the maximum concentration of a pollutant allowed to be discharged at any time, determined from the analysis of any discrete or composite sample collected, independent of the industrial flow rate and the duration of the sampling event.

"Institutional user" means any hospital, mortuary or public or private school which introduces into the sewerage system primarily segregated domestic waste or wastes from sanitary conveniences.

"Interference" means a discharge, which alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations or its sludge processes, use or disposal; and therefore, is a cause of a violation of the city of Corning's NPDES permit or of the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal in compliance with any of the following statutory/regulatory provisions or permits issued thereunder, or any more stringent state or local regulations: Section 405 of the Act; the Solid Waste Disposal Act, including Title II commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); any state regulations contained in any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act; the Clean Air Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act; and the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act.

"Manager" means the city manager of the city of Corning.

"Mass emission rate" means the weight of the material discharged to the sewerage system during a given time interval. Unless otherwise specified, the mass emission rate shall mean pounds per day of a particular constituent or combination of constituents.

"Medical waste" means isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood products, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes and dialysis wastes.

"Natural outlet" means any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake, bay, ocean or other body of surface water, or an outlet into the groundwater.

"New source" means:

1. Any building, structure, facility or installation from which there is (or may be) a discharge of pollutants, the construction of which commenced after the publication of proposed pretreatment standards under Section 307(c) of the Act, which will be applicable to such source if such standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that section, provided that:

a. The building, structure, facility or installation is constructed at a site at which no other source is located; or

b. The building, structure, facility or installation totally replaces the process or production equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants at an existing source; or

c. The production or wastewater generating processes of the building, structure, facility or installation are substantially independent of an existing source at the same site. In determining whether these are substantially independent, factors such as the extent to which the new facility is engaged in the same general type of activity as the existing source should be considered.

2. Construction on a site at which an existing source is located results in a modification rather than a new source if the construction does not create a new building, structure, facility or installation meeting the criteria of subsection (1) (b) or (c) of this definition but otherwise alters, replaces or adds to existing process or production equipment.

3. Construction of a new source as defined under this subsection has commenced if the owner or operator has:

a. Begun, or caused to begin as part of a continuous on-site construction program:

i. Any placement, assembly or installation of facilities or equipment, or

ii. Significant site preparation work including clearing, excavation or removal of existing buildings, structures or facilities which is necessary for the placement, assembly or installation of new source facilities or equipment; or

b. Entered into a building contractual obligation for the purchase of facilities or equipment which are intended to be used in its operation within a reasonable time. Options to purchase or contracts which can be terminated or modified without substantial loss, and contracts for feasibility, engineering and design studies do not constitute a contractual obligation under this subsection.

"Noncontact cooling water" means water used for cooling which does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product or finished product.

"NPDES" means National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, pursuant to Section 402 of the Clean Water Act.

"Pass through" means a discharge which exits the POTW into waters of the United States in quantities or concentrations which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the city of Corning NPDES permit, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.

"Person" means any individual, partnership, firm, association, corporation or public agency including the state of California and the United States of America.

"pH" means a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, expressed in standard units.

"Pollutant" means dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, medical wastes, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discharged equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, municipal, agricultural and industrial wastes and certain characteristics of wastewater (e.g., pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, COD, toxicity or odor).

"Pollution" means an alteration of the quality of waters of the city or state by waste which unreasonably affects such waters for any beneficial use or affects facilities serving such beneficial use. The term "pollution" also includes contamination.

"Premises" means a parcel of land or portion thereof used for human occupancy, or for commercial, industrial, recreational or other purpose. "Premises" includes any improvements thereon, such as a house or building. Each dwelling unit or duplex, apartment, mobile home park or any other multifamily residence shall be deemed to be a separate premises. Subject to the provisions of this section and other city code chapters, the director shall determine what constitutes a premises.

"Pretreatment" means the reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater prior to or in lieu of introducing such pollutants into the POTW. This reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes; by process changes; or by other means, except by diluting the concentrating of the pollutants unless allowed by an applicable pretreatment standard.

"Pretreatment facility" means any works or device for treatment, control or flow limitation of sewage which is to be discharged into the sewerage system.

"Pretreatment requirements" means any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment imposed on an industrial user, other than a pretreatment standard.

"Pretreatment standards" or "standards" means prohibited discharge standards and categorical pretreatment standards.

"Prohibited discharge standards" or "prohibited discharges" means absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances; these prohibitions appear in Article III of this chapter.

"Publicly owned treatment works" or "POTW" means a "treatment works," as defined by Section 212 of the Act (33 USC Section 1292) which is owned by the city of Corning. This definition includes any devices or systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature and any conveyances which convey wastewater to the city of Corning POTW treatment plant.

"Reclaimed water" means water which, as a result of treatment of waste, is suitable for direct beneficial use or controlled use that would not otherwise occur.

"Requirement standards" are those regulations established by this chapter to ensure that a user's waste will be rendered treatable by the wastewater treatment facility.

"Residential user" means a user whose premises are utilized primarily for residential purposes and who has no significant producing or processing activity.

"Sanitary conveniences" means any sink, toilet, shower, bathtub, washing machine, garbage disposals and the like associated with conveying domestic wastes.

"Septic tank waste" means any sewage from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers and septic tanks.

"Sewage" means the waterborne wastes received from human habitation and utilization of premises for residential, commercial, institutional or industrial purposes.

"Sewer" or "sanitary sewer" means a pipe or conduit which carries sewage and/or other industrial wastes and to which storm, surface or groundwaters are not intentionally admitted. Unless otherwise qualified, the work "sewer," when used in this chapter, means sanitary sewer. A city sewer, or public sewer, is any sewer which is located on city property, within an easement granted to the city, or within a public by right-of-way, and which is maintained by the city or other public agency and is tributary to the wastewater treatment facility operated by the city or to the industrial treatment plant.

"Sewerage system" means all publicly owned facilities, both domestic and industrial, utilized for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of wastewater.

"Significant industrial user" means:

1. All industrial users subject to categorical pretreatment standards under CFR 40 403.6 and CFR 40 Chapter 1, Subchapter N;

2. Any other industrial user that discharges an average of twenty-five thousand gallons per day or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater);

3. An industrial user that contributes a process waste stream which makes up five percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plant; or

4. An industrial user that is designated as such by the control authority as defined in CFR 40 403.12(a) on the basis that the industrial user has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement (in accordance with CFR 40 403.8(f) (6)).

"Slug" means any discharge of water, sewage or other industrial waste which in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds, for any period of duration longer than fifteen minutes, more than five times the average twenty-four-hour concentration or flow rate during normal operation.

"Standard industrial classification (SIC) code" means a classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual issued by the United Stated Office of Management and Budget.

"State" means the state of California, its government or any division thereof.

"Storm drain" means a conduit (drain or sewer) that carrier rainwater, stormwater and surface water, groundwater, street runoff or wash, drainage, condensate, cooling water or similar discharge, but excludes sewage and other industrial wastes.

"Suspended solids" means solids that either float on the surface of, or are in suspension in, wastewater and which are largely removable by standard laboratory filtration procedures.

"Unpolluted water" means water to which no constituent has been added, either intentionally or accidentally, which would render such water unacceptable for disposal to storm or natural drainages or direct to surface waters.

"User" means any person that discharges, causes or permits the discharge of wastewater into the sewerage system.

"User fees" are service charges established to equitably recover all city costs of providing, operating and maintaining the sewerage system for the benefit of all users.

"Waste" means sewage and any and all other discarded substances, whether liquid, solid, gaseous or radioactive, which are associated with human habitation, are of human or animal origin, or are from any producing, manufacturing or processing operation of whatever nature. Included in waste placed within containers of whatever nature prior to, and for purposes of, disposal.

"Wastewater" means waste and water, whether treated or untreated, discharged into or permitted to enter the sewerage system.

"Wastewater constituents and characteristics" means those individual chemical, physical, bacteriological and radiological parameters that serve to define, classify or measure the contents, quality, quantity and strength of wastewater.

"Wastewater discharge permit" means a permit to discharge waste into the city of Corning domestic sewer or industrial sewer, of which both discharge into the city of Corning wastewater treatment facility.

"Wastewater treatment facility" means any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating wastewater.

"Watercourse" means a channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.

"Water quality requirements" means requirements for the city's wastewater treatment facility effluent established by National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit Number CA 0004995 (as amended), or by state or federal regulatory agencies for the protection of receiving water quality. Water quality requirements include effluent limitations and waste discharge standards, limitations or prohibitions which may be established or adopted from time to time by state or federal laws or regulatory agencies.

"Waters of the city" means any water, surface or underground, within the boundaries of the city.

"Waters of the state" means any water, surface or underground, within the boundaries of the state.

(Ord. 541 (part), 1993).